Question

Read the Psychology Internship case study,

PSY-260 Case Study: Psychology Internship Meet Frank.

Frank is a university student, He is currently working as an student intern, At a mental health agency… But today, Frank is troubled, as he was asked to go through and file patient charts by his supervisor. Problem is, when Frank started his internship, he had to sign a confidentiality agreement. The agreement stated that he must only access client information, only when absolutely necessary And only with he guidance or supervision from full-time agency staff. To make matters worse, one of the patient’s files he is supposed to sort has the name of his current roommate. To complicate the situation, Frank’s roommate has been acting very strange lately and his file may be able to explain some things… What should Frank do? Should Frank notify his supervisor about his current confidentiality agreement policy dilemma? OR Should Frank complete the task and maybe take a look to see if his roommate is dangerous...

Then use the following questions to guide the forum discussion.

1. What are your ethical responsibilities as a student intern?

2. What are your personal feelings about the situation?

3. How will your personal feelings affect your actions in this situation?

Answer 1

As a student intern Frank should notify this dilemma to his supervisor and adhere to the confidentiality ethics .

1). Ethical responsibility as student intern is to adhere to the ethics and report the supervisor whenever there is a crises situation and consult with the supervisor.

2. It's natural to have concern for the roommate but this concern should not intervene in professional ethics.

3. Concern for roommate's situation is natural and obvious,but,if the professional ethics requires confidentiality to be maintained,it would be so. But, still if there is a crisis, it would be discussed and consulted with the supervisor.